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What's the most "oof" or wtf fact you know about an everyday object? (lemmy.blahaj.zone)
submitted 1 year ago by to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world
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Mine is this little tidbit about Khaki's from https://www.heddels.com/2019/05/history-khaki-anything-drab/

"Tried and tested by all the major powers, khaki-dyed, lightweight cotton twills became the de facto uniform for any colonizing power. If you were going to ship your boys abroad to pillage and conquer someplace in the Southern Hemisphere, khaki was your go-to color."

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[–] 29 points 1 year ago (15 children)

Artificial raspberry flavor is made from beaver anal glands.

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  • [–] 28 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (3 children)

    Which brings us to just one of those bizarre US things, "artificial flavor" versus "natural flavor" is totally arbitrary and random. It's based on which molecule, not what the source is, so you can have "natural flavors" that came from a massive stainless steel tank and will kill you if you touch them in pure form without the proper protective gear, or "artificial flavors" that come from squeezing beaver ass glands.

    Edit: Every word of this post is wrong. Literally every one. I think I read a book decades ago that told me this, maybe I remembered it wrong, but anyway according to the internet of today it's different and I'm a big dummy.

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  • [–] 11 points 1 year ago (1 child)

    It's based on which molecule, not what the source is

    Other way around. You can have identical molecules be classified as "artificial" or "natural" depending upon whether they were synthesized or extracted.

    https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/svbl7/what_are_artificial_flavors_made_out_of/

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago

    Which brings us to just one of those bizarre US things, "artificial flavor" versus "natural flavor" is totally arbitrary and random. It's based on which molecule, not what the source is,

    But, that's sensible. If it's the chemical you find in raspberry, then its natural raspberry flavor. If it's something we invented or discovered that's like raspberry, its artificial. Who cares if it came from a bioreactor?

    will kill you if you touch them in pure form without the proper protective gear,

    While I wouldn't recommend eating concentrated artificial flavours, touching them won't kill you. Unless you jump into the reactor, but jumping into one would kill you no matter what the substance inside is.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 year ago (7 children)

    Seems unnecessary. Raspberries are plentiful and likely cheaper than beaver parts.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 year ago (5 children)

    Yeah, it sounds like this might not actually be as common as suggested. Synthetic chemicals are usually going to be cheaper than hunting a beaver.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 year ago (4 children)

    Makes me wonder why whale puke still gets used in cosmetics...

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago* (2 children)

    The synthetics are usually inferior to natural products if you're going high-end. There's probably thousands of individual compounds in ambergris. Similarly, I'm guessing if you go for really bougie raspberry flavouring it's more likely to use castoreum.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 year ago (1 child)

    I guess that I would have thought that you could isolate those individual compounds, and then reproduce them, rather than hoping that you can find a lucky ball of whale puke.

    I dunno, I'm pretty sure I'm not their target audience.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 year ago

    In theory you could, although I'd guess it'd be an incredible amount of work, and might cost more in the end. Most attempts at replicating natural flavours and scents have historically been unconvincing, although some of the recent stuff has been incredible.

    I wonder if there's any food scientists on Lemmy.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 year ago

    Yeah, a little research online says it's likely only used in perfumes due to expense, but technically it could be used in food.

    Most foods though will just use raspberries in some form or another.

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